District Heating and Cooling Zones

• Author: Kyler Massner
• Pages: 13-18

Part I: Remove Code Barriers 13

DIST RIC T HEATIN G AN D

COOL ING ZONE S

Kyler Massner (author)

Jonathan Rosenbloom & Christopher Duerksen (editors)

INTRODUCTION

District heating and cooling systems, commonly called district energy sys-

tems (DES), provide heating and cooling to buildings that are connected to

and powered by localized utilit y plants.1 DES can meet the energy needs

of a variety of community sizes in a cost ecient, renewable, and reliable

man ner.2 DES is best su ited in zones with a mix of medium to high density

developments, such as college or government campuses, downtown districts,

airports, mi xed use residential clusters, industrial parks, and healt hcare facil-

ities.3 DESs have been used since the late 1800’s, but local governments have

increasingly turned to them to respond to volatile energy prices, t he need for

energy eciency, concern for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and a desire

to increase resilience by decentralizing infrastruct ure and utilities.4

Despite DESs’ long history, barriers to their construction exist in many

local development codes. Typically, community energy needs are considered

late in the planning process a nd envision the use of a centralized energy

utility. Local zoning ordinances may prohibit smaller scale generators from

being constructed in par ticular zones explicitly or, more commonly, implic-

itly by not including them in permitted uses.5 Local governments ca n remove

these barriers by addressing energ y infrastructure earlier in the development

process to ensure that future developments are coordinated to leverage the

benets of DESs.6 Additiona lly, local governments can expand opportuni-

ties for installation of smal l scale DESs by amending zoning ordina nces to

permit construction in residential and commercial zones.7

DESs typically have three core components: the thermal energy generat-

ing powerplant, the distribution system, and the energy t ransfer station.8 e

generating powerplant can be a traditional powerplant reliant on fossil fuels,

a renewable energy system, or a combined heat and power system (CHP).

e product produced is either steam, hot water, or chilled water, that is then

pumped through a distribution system of heavily insulated pipes, providing

heat, cooling, and/or hot water to buildings that are connected via a series